


city blues, deep sea hues

by goldenmonster (lunacrowne)



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Lovesickness, M/M, Mutual Pining, Omelas references no squinting necessary, References to Depression, Romance, Romantic Fluff, shy and smitten merkook with human!joon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-24 06:52:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15625125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunacrowne/pseuds/goldenmonster
Summary: He was dressed in black—city hues—and etched in his eyes were the city blues.





	city blues, deep sea hues

**Author's Note:**

  * For [endors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/endors/gifts).



There was a man that came by the pier often.

Jungkook had noticed him for the first time when the wooden planks groaned against the heaviness of his steps, awakening him from a mid-morning slumber in the drifting seaweed below.

The pier had long been abandoned by the sailors, then the fishermen that came after, until it fell into a state of decay Jungkook called home. He had kept it tidy still—making it his job to scatter the vagrant seabirds that attempted to nest between the planks, as well as ward off the sharks that dared to come near. It was in case he ever had company, he supposed. So he waited.

But year after year, the pier remained unwanted, and Jungkook remained alone.

Until _he_ came along.

He was dressed in black—city hues—and etched in his eyes were the city blues. And despite coming from the concrete jungle beyond the sea cliffs, he had enviable sun-kissed skin that rivaled Jungkook’s own.

He seemed well-read; always a good book tucked under his arm. Jungkook fancied him an avid reader—perhaps even a writer—wondering what it was within those pages that made him stare at the ocean so longingly.

He fascinated Jungkook.

The man had a habit of reaching the edge of the shore, as if contemplating how it would be to dip his toes into the water ( _The water’s great,_ Jungkook wants to say), before ultimately retreating back up to the sand. Other times, his habits included pacing up and down the pier, sitting with his long legs hanging over the edge while Jungkook would wait within the pylons below.

Some days when Jungkook felt courageous, he would try luring the man closer to the water by tossing tiny pebbles at him from behind the sea rock, only to dive swiftly back into the water—flustered—the moment the man turned his head in Jungkook’s direction. 

In the end, Jungkook had found it best to settle for watching him from the safety of the tidal pools. He had left gifts of the finest and most delicate seashells he could find on the sand where the man would sit, mostly as a token of admiration. Jungkook was by no means an expert on what humans liked, but the man seemed to find them interesting enough to keep because they always tended to disappear when Jungkook wasn’t looking. It kept Jungkook wondering if the other yearned for the ocean like he did.

He gets a glimpse one day when the man leaves his book out on the shore. The faded blue and worn cover reads:

 _The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas_.

Jungkook gingerly flips through the pages, trying not to get them too wet. He delves into the book earnestly, eager to uncover the same realms that have enraptured the other so. There are still some words he can't make out, but he understands enough to comprehend that the story is a little sad.

Was he sad?

The man had always come to the pier alone. Having never spoken even once, Jungkook can only imagine what the man's voice might be like if he were reading this.

The name _Kim Namjoon_ is inscribed on the inside cover.

Namjoon. His name was Namjoon.

Jungkook can hardly contain the smile brimming on his face at this finding, and minute as it may be, it feels like he has discovered something grand.

 _Namjoon_ continues to come on a predictable schedule throughout the weeks. He returns with a different book in his hands and with each passing day it becomes a much greater feat for Jungkook to return the previous copy. He ends up holding onto it for safekeeping during the high tides.

  
   


The sea is unusually quiet, on that particular autumn night. 

Jungkook had been watching the ghost crabs, iridescent little bodies scuttling around the shoals after dark, when Namjoon arrives—unexpectedly— at the pier.

Jungkook is aware as always of his presence above, but it surprises even him when the sound of the man’s footsteps continue on past the threshold marking the pier’s edge. They are quicker, more determined than usual. Then, there is a loud splash as his body plummets into the water. 

Though finding it strange, Jungkook is thrilled, even, at first. The thought of the man overcoming his hesitance with the sea, finally yearning for it like he did, was beyond exciting. 

It's when the man makes no attempt to swim, allowing himself to sink steadily towards the bottom of the ocean, that Jungkook realizes his true purpose for having come here.

He had mistaken Namjoon’s gaze. It wasn’t a gaze of longing, but of loneliness.

Jungkook dives faster than he's ever dived before into the dark water, finding the man in no time. He rips him from the pull of the strong ocean current, never being more thankful of being a merman until today as his powerful tail propels them upward towards the surface. 

Breaking their heads above the water he wills himself to swim for the shore. Jungkook hauls Namjoon up onto the sand, resting his head against a flat rock. Ignoring his own overexertion Jungkook clambers forward and attempts to resuscitate Namjoon. His heart nearly stops when he doesn't get a response.

Namjoon isn't breathing.

This wasn't the way they were supposed to meet. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. 

“Why would you do such a thing?”

Jungkook cradles Namjoon’s head to his chest, weeping quietly to himself. His sparkling tears fall onto the man’s cold cheek. Before he can start the first verse of the sailors’ mourning song, however, the man suddenly sputters and coughs out seawater.

At the man’s revival, Jungkook remains still, both elated and frightened of what he might think.

“Because... I have nothing.”

It’s the first time Jungkook hears him speak; the first time he’s been this close. Namjoon’s voice is a low murmur rich like the depths of the seas, knowing and sage-like for a mortal of his years. 

“Did you save me? You shouldn't have.” He continues quietly, eyes unfocused at Jungkook. “I…wanted to die.”

Jungkook finds himself unable to say anything to that. Such a wonderful person wanted to take his own life?

“No, Namjoon…”

Jungkook runs his fingers through wet caramel locks, cupping the side of Namjoon’s face gently before reluctantly removing his hand.

“The sea is not ready to receive you just yet.”

Jungkook reaches for the copy of _Omelas_ strewn onto the sand and closes the other man’s fingers around it. Although there had been a semblance of clarity in his previous words, Namjoon visibly struggles to stay awake and conscious. 

“Be happy Namjoon...don't come back here.” He whispers, backing away from the limp figure before his resolve weakens.

Jungkook recedes with the next wave into the water. For the rest of the night, he swims a couple miles over to the next beach, calling out to the passersby about the near drowning of a man by the abandoned pier. After warning them, he disappears back under the water without a trace. By the time the calls have been made out to the police they no longer see any signs of the rescuer. 

Flashes of red light illuminate the pier briefly for a night, taking Namjoon away with them, back to the blue city.

  
   


Namjoon doesn't come back for a while.

If that meant him staying away from the pier forever, then Jungkook would be okay with it.

  
   


Spring passes eventually. Jungkook spends most of it breaking the habit of expecting there to be someone up on the pier. Everytime Jungkook touches the cold rock, with his cold fingers, he thinks he can still feel the warmth of the man's drenched body when he had lain there last. For some reason, his heart aches.

Jungkook hums to the sleeping fish at the shoreside—about everything; about nothing in particular—that afternoon when he hears footsteps in the sand behind him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

The voice of a man asks. The deep, vibrant voice is one that he would recognize anywhere. He turns and meets eye-to-eye with none other than Kim Namjoon himself. The other is nearly unrecognizable, his rounded jawline tapered now and skin less sun-kissed than before, but his features are all still familiar. Clad in a pinkish smock shirt instead of his usual shades of black garb, Jungkook has never been more relieved. 

"...Hello?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Jungkook immediately grabs for a floating plank to cover himself with. 

“Oh. H-hello!”

Despite the overwhelming happiness Jungkook feels at seeing the man, he has undoubtedly caught the merman off guard. It's rather a compromising position he's found himself in. There isn't exactly a place for him to hide, or move even slightly for that matter, in order to avoid arousing suspicion. Thankfully, the setting sun has cast enough shadow on the water to partially hide the presence of his tail.

"...Have we met somewhere before?"

Namjoon doesn't seem to notice any of Jungkook’s distress; all the while Jungkook is fretting immensely about accidentally revealing his tail.

“No...I don’t believe we have,” Jungkook lies. The man nods, perching himself on a nearby rock. 

Silence falls over them, save for the swashing of the waves as they ebb and flow onto the beach.

Jungkook sneaks a glance over at Namjoon from behind his makeshift wooden crutch. He gazes off into the ocean, as if seeking penitence.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Me? I..." Namjoon seems surprised, lips pressed together hesitantly before deciding to speak. “...A couple months ago, I did something I shouldn’t have."

Jungkook follows the man's gaze to the pier, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry. If it's difficult to talk about, I understand—" 

Namjoon shakes his head. "It's okay, it's in the past now. I jumped...from this pier right here, "

After a longer pause, he continues.

“Someone saved me that night. The paramedics told me my rescuer never came forward though.”

“You don’t seem happy with that. Are you angry with them?”

“No...I just wanted to ask them why they did. Why they saved me.”

 _Because I have nothing,_ echoes in Jungkook’s mind.

Jungkook stiffens. “Are you—”

“Don’t worry. I'm not going to do anything rash today.” The man reassures.

“...Do you remember who they were?”

At this Namjoon looks a little wistful. “No,”

"I see." Jungkook relaxes a bit at that, at the same time trying not to let the trace of disappointment show in his voice. Namjoon holds out something in his hands for Jungkook to see.

“But somehow this was in my hands when I came to in the hospital. Apparently I wouldn't let this go so they treated me anyway.”

It’s the copy of _Omelas_. The merman unconsciously shifts himself further away, but his curiosity gets the better of him.

“Why do you read... _Omelas_?”

“I thought it'd be better for everyone if I disappeared.” Namjoon stretches his arms out towards the waves thoughtfully. “The sea would swallow me up and then I could disappear like all things do,”

“That's not how the sea works,” Jungkook pipes up. “Everything has a place in it. Nothing truly disappears.”

“So you're an expert?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.” Jungkook proclaims proudly.

“Then...I'd like to have a place in something. That sounds nice,” 

“Come back tomorrow, and I'll tell you.” Jungkook says, feeling brash and perhaps immediately regretting being so forward when Namjoon laughs into the crook of his elbow.

“W-what’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’ll be back tomorrow…”

“Jungkook.”

“...Jungkook. I’ll be back tomorrow, Jungkook.”

  
   


Soon, Jungkook finds himself awaiting Namjoon’s arrival. 

He strings his collection of the prettiest sea glass up, adorning himself with them before finding it silly, tearing them down and burying them back into the tideland.He isn't fully aware of it, but it becomes a habitual pattern.

Namjoon's mind is strange. He talks of dust and the dark abysses of man’s heart when the world is much more lively, but perhaps it's because he's from the city that he has witnessed the atrocities he speaks of firsthand.

The atrocities of broken promises and unachievable dreams cut deeper into the soul than one can ever imagine.

(Namjoon confides in him that this was why he had jumped that night.) 

The city had promised to make true his childhood dreams of waxing poeticisms. Eventually, those same idealisms had become overbearing against the oppressing backdrop of the industrial metropolis that lay a hazy distance away.

Still, Jungkook is mesmerized by Namjoon’s anecdotes. He gets lost in each and every one of the man's spoken dreams, so immersed he can listen to Namjoon speak for hours on end. So, he does.

“Don't you want to come out of the water once in a while? Your skin will prune at this rate.” Namjoon asks after a long-winded but sincere discussion, setting a new book aside on the rocks.

“Don't _you_ want to come into the water once in a while?”

“Now you're being unreasonable—”

“The water's great,”

A playful tug throws Namjoon off balance and into the water. 

Although the water here is shallow, Namjoon’s limbs flail awkwardly due to his tall stature. With Jungkook's help they find a good midpoint together, half-standing and half-treading in the midst of a gentle swell of waves.

Despite their lower halves being much different, sharing a moment with Namjoon like this gives off an illusion that they are more alike than they seem. This sort of feeling is dangerously deceptive but Jungkook likes pretending anyway. Namjoon smiles under the sun.

His smile is warm.

“This is the first time I've seen you smile,”

Namjoon appears to be taken aback, hand clasping over his mouth in a curious attempt to hide his smile.

“It's definitely been a long time," he admits. “Now my clothes are wet, thanks to you." 

Jungkook grins, and Namjoon pulls him into an embrace.

  
   


The sweltering days of summer transition to cooler fall.

Namjoon’s days are occupied by “work”, things he does in exchange for human currency to achieve his dream. Nights are when he stops by now, but Jungkook doesn't mind. The merman sticks by the pier, always here to welcome him back.

 They rest together at the base of the pier under the twinkling sky, Jungkook remaining half-submerged in the water at Namjoon's side. After all this time, the man has yet to make comment on why Jungkook gently refuses to accompany him on the decks above.

“You left these for me, didn't you?” Namjoon asks, holding out his palm. The tiny, multicolored shells residing within glint in the moonlight. “From the start, it was always you.”

Jungkook had thought Namjoon had always thrown them away. From the sheer amount alone, it's clear that the man had been collecting them since the very first time.

“Jungkook, I want to see you.”

“You're already seeing me, Namjoon.” Jungkook tilts his head, confused when Namjoon takes his hands in his.

“I want to see _all_ of you.” Namjoon states.

“This is… all of me.” Jungkook looks down at their clasped hands and realizes then what Namjoon means. He starts to panic, withdrawing his hands from Namjoon’s and drawing further away into the water.

“Jungkook—”

“How long have you known?”

“There’s a reason why I'm alone here.” 

_Haven't you heard of the tales?_ Jungkook's listened to so many versions he’s lost count. The sailors called him siren, with his songs only capable of bringing death. The fishermen called him harbinger, saw him as a scourge in the sea that brought only starvation. And what would Namjoon call him then? “You'll end up hating me.”

“What those tales describe is a monster, a creature with no sense of compassion. But the you in front of me is far from it. You saved me and gave me purpose. How could I hate you?”

“That’s...I could’ve been just trying to win your trust. For all you know I could be plotting to drag you down to the bottom of the sea at this very moment.”

“Well, will you really?”

“No.”

Namjoon extends his hand. 

Jungkook takes it shyly.

“Now that's better.” Namjoon says once they are face to face once more. “Won’t you show me, Jungkook? I don't care if it's a tail or wings— I won't be scared off that easily.”

Taking a deep breath, Jungkook lifts his tail out of the water, the subsequent spray cascading down over both of them in the moonlight.

“Beautiful,” Namjoon murmurs in awe. “You're beautiful.”

A gasp of relief escapes Jungkook’s lips, followed by a blush. “...You don't have to stare.”

Namjoon absentmindedly caresses the shimmering scales at his lower back, running his fingers soothingly over the part where the scales bridge the gap between his hip and waist and fade to human flesh.

“I feel greedy somehow. You’ve been hidden from the rest of this world for so long and now... You’re all mine,”

"I was always yours," It's the truth. From the start, from the very first moment—every ounce of his being has belonged to the human.

“Can you walk on land? I'm just curious if it was possible, or if it's only the stuff of legends.” 

“I could, but it hurts.” Jungkook wishes he could describe it better to Namjoon, but it's just that. Many times, he has considered forgoing the luxury of his tail for legs in order to be a part of the same world as Namjoon. “I've tried it once before.”

"I don't want you to hurt." As soon as Namjoon blurts this out, he appears troubled. “That's okay. I'll stay near the ocean, and visit you everyday.”

“But I _want_ to try it again. I want to be able to walk with you, Namjoon.”

“...Alright.”

Jungkook submerges into the water with one fluid motion. He concentrates hard and wills for the blessing of Poseidon to grant him a human form. It feels like all the bones in his lower body are being broken, one by one, and the pain is more excruciating that he'd remembered. But for Namjoon, only for Namjoon, the pain is a bearable price.

The scales along his tail, _thighs_ now, eventually dissipate and smoothen out into skin. He feels lighter somehow, the foreign feeling of moving two separate limbs at a time replacing the integrity of a singular tail.

“Jungkook?”

Namjoon’s voice calls out somewhat anxious, sounding muffled under the water.

He steps out of the water, shakily, and falls into Namjoon’s embrace.

“If I don't return you to the sea in time, will you become sea foam?” Namjoon whispers against Jungkook’s ear.

“The whole sea foam thing is a myth,” he corrects, resting tiredly against Namjoon’s chest. “Do you plan on keeping me away for long?”

“Long enough for our walk isn't too much to ask for now, is it?” Namjoon asks, draping his jacket over Jungkook in an attempt to preserve the merman's modesty.

“You'll have to carry me if my legs hurt again.” Jungkook simpers.

“Thank you,” Namjoon says.

“For what?”

“Saving me. I wouldn't be here without you.”

“You saved me too, Namjoon.” Jungkook explains when Namjoon arches a brow. 

“Then that makes us even,” 

Namjoon smiles against Jungkook's lips as he kisses him.

They walk along the beach as promised, watching the city hues in the distance with eyes longer blue.

**Author's Note:**

> Namkook is a wholesome ship and I wanted to write a wholesome story for my bestest bro in the world, endors. Happy Birthday!   
> O//J//O
> 
> (updated with obligatory [moodboard](https://twitter.com/lunacrowne/status/1033403863582142464) for consistency purposes)


End file.
